Spartanburg woman, 25, denied bond in fatal hit-and-run

Colleen Adaire Casey, 25, of 2538 Club Drive, was charged Monday by the S.C. Highway Patrol with leaving the scene of an accident involving death.

By Jenny Arnoldjennifer.arnold@shj.com

A woman accused of hitting someone she knew with a car and leaving the scene will remain in jail.Colleen Adaire Casey, 25, of 2538 Club Drive, was charged Monday by the S.C. Highway Patrol with leaving the scene of an accident involving death.On Tuesday, Judge James Ashmore denied bond for Casey during a hearing at the Spartanburg County jail at the request of 7th Circuit Solicitor Barry Barnette.According to the S.C. Highway Patrol, Jacquelyn Cara White, 23, of Woodberry Place, Spartanburg, was hit by a car near Lake Forest and Torino drives early Monday. She was pronounced dead at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center at 5:21 a.m., according to the Spartanburg County Coroner's Office.Barnette said Casey and White were acquaintances and had seen each other the night before the incident. Authorities have not said why White was in that area early Monday morning.Barnette said dispatchers received a 911 call at 4:21 a.m., heard Casey and her boyfriend talking about the incident, and overheard Casey's boyfriend say she should not have been drinking and driving. Dispatchers could hear the conversation, but were unable to speak with the caller.Another 911 call about the incident was made several minutes later, and when authorities arrived at Lake Forest and Torino, they found Casey's boyfriend at the scene, but Casey had left in a 1997 Cadillac, authorities said.Troopers investigating the scene determined that White was found about 40 feet from where she was initially struck by the car, Barnette said. Officials obtained a search warrant to draw blood from Casey for drug and alcohol testing and additional charges are possible, Barnette said.The solicitor said he believed Casey not only could be a danger to the community but also to herself, due to drug use. Someone else Casey knows was hospitalized after a drug overdose in the wake of the deadly hit-and-run, Barnette said.“There is no question she (Casey) was involved in drug use,” he said.White's brother, Thomas White III, spoke briefly during the hearing.“Drugs are very common things in Colleen's life, and she is a danger to the community,” Thomas White said.Spartanburg attorney Paul McKee met briefly with Casey before the bond hearing. He asked for bond for Casey, saying that she was not a danger to others or a flight risk.Barnette said the solicitor's office is still looking into Casey's prior criminal record, but said she has some speeding charges and an accident on her driving record.Leaving the scene of an accident involving death carries up to 25 years in prison.Casey's father, Wilson Casey, told Ashmore that he found his daughter after the incident and that she volunteered to turn herself in.Wilson Casey, whose syndicated trivia column is published in the Herald-Journal, fought back tears as he spoke during the hearing.“Obviously it's such a tragedy, and we're in such shock,” Wilson Casey said. “Colleen's a good girl. She made a tragic mistake. Her mother loves her. I love her. God loves her.”Her arms clutched around her chest, Colleen Casey bent forward as she heard her father crying.“We love you, Colleen, you know that,” Wilson Casey said, as his daughter was led from the courtroom after the hearing.

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